The present invention is directed to an optical cable having a plurality of light waveguides which are arranged in at least one group having a prescribed structure and wherein the individual light waveguides within the prescribed structure are each respectively exposed to different mechanical stresses.
It is known to manufacture optical cables with a great plurality of light waveguides wherein the light waveguides are arranged group-by-group in a defined structure. One possibility for such a prescribed structure, for instance, is the arrangement of light waveguide ribbons within a stack in what is referred to as a chambered cable. U.S. Pat. No. 5, 177,809, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference thereto and which claims priority from the same German Application as European Published Application 0 492 206 A 1, provides an example of such a structure wherein the number of light waveguides within a ribbon stack forming a group additionally increases from the inside to the outside in order to achieve a higher packing density.
In such a group having prescribed structures which are usually arranged proceeding helically relative to the longitudinal axis of the cable, it is no longer possible for the individual light waveguides to evade mechanical stresses by assuming a position with a lower stress because they are largely mechanically bound at prescribed positions within the prescribed structure. Such mechanical stresses, also known as micro bending or macro bending, will cause an extremely undesirable and relatively great increase in attenuation.